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I am happy to share the following press release with you. Daniel Nayeri is a fantastic author and I have enjoyed his books in the past. This past May, I picked up a sample ARC of his newest endeavor- Straw House, Wood House, Brick House, Blow: Four Novellas, a collection of four novellas. I was intrigued, because novellas are an underused way of writing for the YA crowd. I picked up the sample and read it this summer. It is awesome. I highly recommend the finished copy, coming this month. It’s perfect for YA readers who may be hesitant to pick up a longer novel due to time constraints, busy schedules, not “loving” reading (yet!), or a variety of other reading “excuses” that I hear weekly in my classroom. Nayeri presents the answer with four novellas that are large on story but thin on page number.

Press Release (courtesy of Candewick):

Please, Call them “Commercials” — Not Trailers!

YA author Daniel Nayeri makes his solo writing debut on October 25th, when his collection of four novellas,

Says Nayeri about the final clips, “Each of these commercials tries to give a sense of the tone of each story. I tried as hard as I could to keep my nose out of it. The Plywood Pictures guys are pros. They’ve done this for companies WAY bigger than me. So I said my peace and got out of their way. I love what they came up with. I’d love to see more book commercials, instead of trailers. From a writer’s perspective, they didn’t mess around with a story that I spent years laboring over. They made their own thing.”

1. The visual effects side for “Our Lady of Villains” took about 45 hours..not including at least a day of screen tests and noodling around with the technology.

3. “Toy Farm” was filmed entirely in Plywood Pictures studio with green screen backgrounds. (photo attached). Using stills and some digital camera tracking tools, they were able to fill in the rest of the scenes digitally. The impressive train and trestle were filmed on the green screen, as were the puffs of cotton, but everything else was a conglomeration of various photos of national parks which were sourced online.

4. The real trick for the “Wish Police” commercial was simply the machine. The machine took a couple days to design on paper and then about 2.5 days to build. (early blueprint attached with photo of assembly)

About the book:

This bold collection of novellas by Another series author Daniel Nayeri features four riveting tales. These modern riffs on classic genres will introduce young adult readers to a broad range of writing styles that explore universally compelling themes such as identity and belonging, betrayal and friendship, love and mortality.

Straw House: A Western sizzling with suspense, set in a land where a rancher grows soulless humans and a farmer grows living toys.

Wood House: This science-fiction tale plunges the reader into a future where reality and technology blend imperceptibly, and a teenage girl must race to save the world from a nano-revolution that a corporation calls “ReCreation Day.”

Brick House: This detective story set in modern NYC features a squad of “wish police” and a team of unlikely detectives.

Blow: A comedic love story told by none other than Death himself, portrayed here as a handsome and charismatic hero who may steal your heart in more ways than one. With humor, suspense, and relatable prose, this hip and cutting-edge collection dazzles.

Written entirely on an iPhone, this quartet of YA novellas by Another Pan and Another Faust author Daniel Nayeri showcases four different genres.